


Testing Patience

by WritingStruggles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: BokuKuro brotp, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, M/M, gomen tsukki, side bokuaka, yamaguchi tadashi needs to be protected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:27:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5585332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingStruggles/pseuds/WritingStruggles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo and Bokuto find out about Tsukishima's crush.<br/>Akaashi is not too unwilingly dragged into this.<br/>In a race to test Tsukishima's patience there shall be only one winner.<br/>And that won't be Tsukishima.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Finding the crush

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trash for bromances.

"Tsukki seemed kind of weird yesterday, don't you think?"  


The infamous captains of Nekoma and Fukurodani were about to start their extra practise session. They were waiting for the said person and Fukurodani's setter.  


Kuroo grasped his chin in thought.  


"Yeah, he looked...happy?" Kuroo shrugged.  


"I wonder what's on that kids' mind." Bokuto sighed, setting down his bottle on the floor.  


"Don't we all." Kuroo agreed.  


The door to the gym opened revealing a tall blond and shorter brunette boy. Greeting the captains, they started changing their out-door shoes to sports ones.  


An idea popped in Kuroo's mind. Grinning he motioned to Bokuto to come closer. Curiously the Owl captain leaned closer to the cat captain.  


"How about we mess with our widdle first year here?" Kuroo whispered.  


Bokuto didn't answer; instead he just sent his companion an evil grin.

Akaashi Keiji looked at the captains and saw them huddled together, whispering. He sweat-dropped.  


"I have a bad feeling about this."  


He turned to the first-year, who was the reason his sanity was still in check, considering how he spent the last few evenings with the 'BRO' duo.  


"Tsukishima." he called him.  


"What is it, Akaashi-san?" Tsukishima, who was clearing his glasses, looked at the setter.  


"This two over there are planning something fishy, and by fishy I mean something stupid. Make sure you don't get dragged in." Akaashi could feel the third-year’s mischievous eyes on the two of them.  


A bit surprised at Akaashi's motherly attitude, Tsukishima nodded.  


And as if on cue:  


"OI, Tsukki!"  


Bokuto was wildly waving his hands in the air, trying and succeeding to catch Karasuno's first years' attention. Kuroo on the other hand stood calmly, hands on hips, grinning widely at him.  


"You don't have to shout so loudly, we're just a few metres apart." Tsukishima drawled in his usual monotone voice. "And please stop calling me that." he added with more edge.  


"Eeeeh? But you are Tsukki, aren't you?"  


"You can't act so familiar with everyone, Bokuto-san. You're making people uncomfortable." Akaashi scolded his senior.  


"Akaashi, why are you siding against me?! You're on my team!" Bokuto yelled, upset at being betrayed by his partner.  


"Doesn't mean I have to baby you, Bokuto-san."  


Kuroo snorted at his friends’ shell-shocked face. He looked like he just got thrown out the window by the people he trusts (that actually happened last year, but it's a different story).  


"Glasses, can I have a little chat with you?"  


Having Bokuto distract Akaashi was brilliant idea, for which Kuroo was patting himself on the back. But honestly, he had no idea it will work, somewhere in the back of his mind believing that Akaashi won't be moved by Bokuto's whining.  


'He does baby that loud dumbass.' he snorted at the thought.  


"What is it, Kuroo-san?"  


"Has anything happened yesterday to you?" Kuroo observed the other guys' face closely, waiting for it indicate that something did.  


Tsukishima's face didn't waver, but the look in his eyes changed somehow.  


"What makes you think something did?" Leaning slightly against the wall, the blond immediately knew what Kuroo was talking about.  


The fight he had with Yamaguchi yesterday.  


Well, he wouldn't call it a fight, considering how short it was. But that short conversation stirred something up in him. His friend, who seemed meek and weak-willed to people who don't know him, who was the most desperate for improvement, has become so cool and strong. Tsukishima wanted to be as cool as his friend was. He'd never tell him that though.  


"You're avoiding the question." Kuroo said in sing-a-song voice. "C'mon tell me. I'm worried you know." he had a hand over his heart. His face didn’t really look worried.  


"I appreciate the worry," Tsukishima put emphasis on the word 'worry', "but it's nothing." he smiled innocently at the third year, before walking away to get the ball.  


''Nothing', my ass.' Kuroo tched internally at the first-years’ stubbornness.  


When the blonde started warming up, Bokuto finished his 4 minute whining limit. Kuroo saw Akaashi flip his senior off before striding over to the blonde.  


"Didn't work?" Bokuto took the place in which Tsukishima stood just a few seconds before.  


"Hell no.” Kuroo growled. But he won’t be giving up so soon. We need to find a better way; just asking won't work on that sassy little bitch."  


"He's taller than you, though." A calm voice spoke at his other side, making Nekoma's captain let out a manly scream. The second-year managed to sneak back to the two.  


"Akaashi, you scared me!"  


"Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san what exactly are you trying to do with Tsukishima?" Akaashi's face was the same unchanging poker face, but his voice was threatening.  


"We were just curious about what made him so happy yesterday!" That made Akaashi raise his eyebrows. He was expecting some kind of a stupid prank, knowing it was Kuroo and Bokuto’s idea.  


Now that Akaashi thought about it, Tsukishima really did look especially cheerful yesterday. But it's not like the setter knew him well to be sure.  


"You two are overthinking. We don't know him well enough to tell if his mood improvement was anything special." Akaashi said, but then recalled a thing he witnessed yesterday. "Unless, it had something to do with that...” he thought out loud.  


"What, what? What 'that' are you talking about?" Kuroo asked quickly and persistently.  


"Yeah, what 'that'?" Bokuto sided with his friend.  


The two crowded over Akaashi, getting in his personal space. The second-year regretted letting his tongue slip. Raising both his hands in the air, shielding himself, he answered:  


"It's just a possibility, but yesterday I saw Tsukishima have a very emotional conversation with one of his teammates."  


"Emotional?" the captains looked incredulous at Akaashi's choice of words. The first year was anything but emotional.  


"Did he cry or something?" Bokuto gasped.  


Akaashi counted to 3 in his head, cursed his life, and then answered.  


"'Emotional' does not mean 'crying', Bokuto-san. What I meant by emotional is that they were talking in loud voices, most likely fighting."  


Bokuto had an 'ooooh I see' face on. Kuroo on the other hand looked even more confused now.  


"Then why was he happy? Has anything else happened between them?" Kuroo questioned Fukurodani's setter.  


"I don't know. I only saw it for a second, and then walked away."  


"HUH? WHY?" both third years yelled, then realising their mistake, quickly glanced at the blonde to see if he heard. But to their relief the first-year didn't seem to hear them, as he continued stretching.  


Akaashi looked at them with disgust.  


"I don't eavesdrop on other peoples' conversations. I also don't stick my nose in other peoples' matters and I advise you don't too."  


"We don't-" they both said in chorus, but were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.  


All three of them looked at the intruder, recognising him as a Karasuno's first-year.  


"That's him." Akaashi said in a quiet voice.  


"Him?" Bokuto asked.  


"The person Tsukishima fought with."  


Kuroo recognised the boy. He was Karasuno's newbie server.  


'What was his name? Yamaguchi?'  


"I apologise for the intrusion." the freckled boy bowed a bit to his seniors.  


"T's ok." The captains answered in perfect chorus, startling him.  


"What is it, Yamaguchi?" Tsukishima asked, walking over to his teammate.  


"Sugawara-san told me to come find you. Kageyama and Hinata accidentally flooded our room, so we have to move to another room for the night."  


"Why am I not surprised?" Tsukishima tched.  


Yamaguchi giggled at that.  


"Uwaah must be tough, moving all of the stuff out from the water." Kuroo said sympathetically.  


"Ah no it won't be hard. The third and most of the second years had their stuff packed and Tsukki never keeps his stuff on the floor. He is really neat too!" Yamaguchi assured him.  


"Shut up, Yamaguchi." said Tsukishima, no malice in his tone. His eyes were unusually soft, almost gentle, as they gazed at the freckled boy.  


"Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi laughed.  


Both Bokuto and Kuroo had their eyebrows high up on their faces.  


'Tsukki?' the nickname echoed in their heads.  


Then in perfect unison, identical shit-eating grins stretched over their faces.  


"O ho?" Bokuto said gleefully.  


"O ho ho?" Kuroo continued.  


'Ah, so that's it.' Akaashi thought, a small smile appearing on his face.  


Tsukishima shot them a glare over Yamaguchi's head, who wasn't even paying attention, telling Tsukishima about how Nishinoya and Tanaka tried carrying Shimizu and Yachi out, even though the water didn't even reach their knees.  


A light bulb lit up in Kuroo's head as he observed the smaller first-year.  


"Tsukishima-kun, you can go and help your friend here." he said sweetly, smiling at the freckled boy. "You can come practise with us tomorrow." He sent the glasses guy a closed-eyed smile.  


"Yeah go help him." Bokuto agreed, sending them a similar smile.  


"T-thank you." Yamaguchi stuttered and bowed. The freckled boy felt a bit uncomfortable from the intense way the captains stared at him. Turning around he quickly fled, closely followed by his taller friend. Before leaving though, the blonde shot his seniors a threatening glare. He received two smirks and a wave in return before he closed the door behind himself.  


"This is going to be so much fun." a perfect chorus once again was heard from the third-years.  


'Forgive me, Tsukishima.' Akaashi sighed internally.


	2. Mission: Matchmaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo and Bokuto start their plan.  
> Will Tsukishima survive it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of attention this got shocked me.  
> So instead of getting ready for New Years, I wrote this! (no regrets lmao)  
> If you have any kind of ff requests, then just comment/send an ask on tumblr.  
> Enjoy!

"Hey, Suga."  


"What is it?"  


"Is it my imagination, or are Bokuto and Kuroo stalking Yamaguchi?"  


"They what."  


The setter stared wide-eyed at his friend.  


"Look." Yaku pointed at something behind Suga.  


Glancing behind him, Suga saw something, he would identify as 'dangerous'.  


Kuroo had his arm swung over Yamaguchi's shoulders and was saying something to him, while getting in poor boys' face. Bokuto on the other hand didn't get in first-years personal space. Instead he blocked all escape routes Yamaguchi could've taken, blocking his other side. Bokuto kept glancing behind himself every few seconds for some reason.  


A bit afar but still pretty close, Suga saw Fukurodani's setter watch them. The brunettes face was neutral as always, though Suga could see a foreign emotion in his eyes. It looked like guilt.  


"I wonder what are they up to." Yaku mussed, gulping down the remains of water from his bottle.  


"I feel uneasy about this." Suga said to himself before going back to practise.  


What the setter didn't notice was that they weren't the only ones who saw the exchange between captains and Yamaguchi.  


An angry glare was set on clueless captains.  
____________________________________________________________________________  


A few hours earlier

"Hey hey hey, Freckles!" A weight dropped on Yamaguchi's back, making him choke on the water he was drinking.  


"Bokuto-san!" came an angry yell from behind them.  


Coughing violently, Yamaguchi bent forward, trying to get the water out of his throat.  


"OH MY GOD SORRY." a distressed yell came from Bokuto.  


A few heavy slaps were delivered to Yamaguchi's back, making him recover. Still shaking a bit, he was gasping for breath.  


Akaashi gave Bokuto a sharp look that said 'Leave'. Bokuto raised both of his arms in surrender, then left. The setter rubbed the first-years back soothingly, until he recovered.  


"Th-thank you." Yamaguchi nodded, flustered.  


"It's alright. I apologize for my senior. I'm sure he didn't mean to startle you like that."  


"I'm sure he didn't."  


Yamaguchi bent down to grab his water bottle, only to find it empty. He looked around in search for a manager to ask for a refill. He let out a sigh, when he saw none.  


Disappointed and still thirsty Yamaguchi was about to return to practise, when Akaashi offered his bottle to Yamaguchi.  


"You can have mine." he gestured to the bottle with his head.  


"B-but what about you?" the freckled boy asked.  


"I have two. Our coach makes sure we all in Fukurodani do. He thinks drinking a lot water will raise our stamina." Akaashi explained, thrusting the bottle in Yamaguchi's hands. He gave the first-year a wave, before going back to his team. He had to scold Bokuto too.  


Yamaguchi stood frozen in place, mouth agape.  


"What's wrong, Yamaguchi?"  


Blinking a bit, the freckled boy turned his head to his blonde friend.  


"Akaashi-san is such a friendly guy! He looks so emotionless, but he is so nice!" Yamaguchi said.  


Tsukishima quirked an eyebrow at that.  


'Nice? Friendly? Akaashi-san is a good guy, but he isn't the type to be friendly to a stranger, considering how Yamaguchi and he never spoke before.' Tsukishima thought.  


'His cheeks are red,' Tsukishima noted, looking at the soft hue on his friends freckled cheeks. The sight would have usually pleased Tsukishima, but not now. The 

blush wasn't his doing. He let out an audible 'tch'.  


"Huh? Tsukki, what's wrong?" Yamaguchi asked, worried about his friend’s sudden change in mood.  


"Nothing." Tsukishima said a bit too forcefully.

The person, who watched over the shorter first-year at the moment, smirked.  


"Nice kill, Akaashi." Kuroo whispered gleefully. "Phase 1: Complete."  
_______________________________________________________________  


"Move, you're blocking the path." an angry voice said behind Yamaguchi. The long line to the bathroom was filled with impatient volleyball players. Yamaguchi was the first one in the line at the moment.  


Terrified he didn't dare to turn around, because judging from the long shadow that the person had and by their angry tone, that person wasn't a nice one.  


"So-sorry!" Yamaguchi stuttered, moving out of the way. But he was stopped by a hand on his back.  


"Whoa there, kid. You were there first, right?"  


Yamaguchi looked up at the person who stopped him and recognized him as Fukurodani's captain, who not so long ago pounced Yamaguchi.  


The ace glared at the impatient guy behind the freckled boy.  


"Go piss in the backyard, if you can't control yourself." he growled.  


"What did you say?!" the guy yelled getting in the captain's face.  


"You heard me, asshole!" Bokuto slammed his forehead against the other guy's. The intense bullfight disturbed the whole line, annoyed yells rising up over the crowd.  


Yamaguchi, who was the cause of the fight, waved his arms in the air, trying to separate the players.  


"Ca-calm down, both of you! Bokuto-san it's alright, I'll go after him!"  


"No you won't, you were there first!" Bokuto yelled angrily, pushing against the other guy’s forehead.  


And as if the gods heard him, the rude guy's team manager came running down the hallway. She pulled the guy away, bowing in apology to Bokuto.  


"He should apologise to Freckles here!"  


"Huh?! I won't-"  


"Apologize." the manager growled at him.  


Intimidated, the guy mumbled an apology to Yamaguchi, before stalking away angrily, manager at his heels, yelling at him on the way. The crowd calmed down.  


"Heh, serves him right." Bokuto threw his head back laughing, hands on hips.  


Yamaguchi bowed to the third-year.  


"Thank you for helping me!" he said.  


"Don't thank me, Freckles. Take it as an apology for what happened before." Bokuto waved his hand dismissively. "You should have stood up for yourself, y'know."  


"I'm not really capable of standing up for myself. I'm usually with my friend, Tsukki, and I don't get picked on when I'm with him." Yamaguchi laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.  


Bokuto raised his eyebrows at that.  


"So you're always with Tsukki, huh?"  


"You could say that." Yamaguchi shrugged. The captain grinned at that.  


Bokuto studied the first-year a little closer.  


Not short, but thin. Fluffy brown hair. Tan skin with freckles.  


'This kid needs to be protected at all costs.' Bokuto decided.  


The Owl captain ruffled his hair.  


"If Tsukki is not around at times, then I'll help you! I'll teach you how to stand up for yourself!" he grinned brightly at the smaller male.  


"You don't have to-" Yamaguchi started flustered at the kind offer.  


"Nope, I've decided! You're under my wing now, Yamaguchi!"  


Patting his shoulder, the captain quickly left before the first-year could try to change his mind.  


Yamaguchi was so flustered he forgot all about going to the bathroom. Instead he felt a warm emotion rise up in his stomach. He was a bit happy at being so cared about. Ok, not a bit, but very happy.

Tsukishima rounded the corner, when Bokuto ran past him. Bokuto winked at him. He frowned at him.  


At the end of the hallway the blonde saw Yamaguchi. He was staring into nothing a grin on his face. A very happy one at that. Tsukishima felt his blood boil. He knew whose doing it was. He walked over to his teammate.  


"What are you grinning about?" he asked still.  


Looking like he just snapped out of a trance, Yamaguchi smiled brightly at him. Tsukishima felt something move in his chest.  


"Bokuto-san protected me from a rude person. I know it's lame to be happy about that, but he was so nice to me for some reason, I can't help being a bit happy." Yamaguchi said, laughing.  


"I see." Tsukishima said coldly.  


"T-tsukki?"  


Behind the corner Kuroo fist-bumped Bokuto.  


"Phase 2: Complete." they whispered simultaneously.  
_______________________________________________________________  


Back to where we started  


Circled by other team's seniors, Yamaguchi tried to keep up with Kuroo's questions to him. The black-haired man had his arm over Yamaguchi's shoulders, keeping him in place.  


The freckled boy was flustered and surprised from all the attention he received. But not intimidated surprisingly.  


Being paid so much attention to wasn't Yamaguchi's thing. But he didn't dislike it. Though he still didn't understand why the seniors were so nice to him. So he decided to ask.  


"Um, Kuroo-san?"  


"What is it, Freckles?" Kuroo smiled sweetly at the shorter boy.  


"Why are you, Akaashi-san and Bokuto-san so nice to me today?" he looked up at the Cat captains face.  


"I'm always this nice!" Kuroo exclaimed, placing the hand that wasn't around Yamaguchi on his heart. "Why are you so surprised to have people being nice to you?"  


"Well," Yamaguchi looked away from the captain’s piercing gaze. "People don't tend to be friendly with me. Only my teammates and people who want to get closer to Tsukki."  


Kuroo stared at him.  


'So that's what Bokuto meant by him being a precious child.'  


Leaning closer to his face, Kuroo smiled softly at the first-year.  


"You are a nice guy, Yamaguchi. I'm sure people like you because of who you are."  


Yamaguchi blushed at the gentle words.

Tsukishima's eyebrows twitched when he saw Yamaguchi look up at the black-haired man. His insides screamed at him to move and break them apart. But his mind kept stopping him.  


'You'll cause a scene. It's not like they're doing anything weird. They're just talking.'  


Yamaguchi looked so cute and innocent looking up at someone taller. But that someone taller wasn't Tsukishima. Tsukishima's hands clenched in fists.  


Kuroo was staring at Yamaguchi.  


'Stop staring you bastard,' Tsukishima thought angrily, then freezing, shocked at how not him those thought were.  


'Calm down, Kei, you are not acting like yourself. They aren't doing-'  


Kuroo leaned extremely close to Yamaguchi's face. Yamaguchi blushed.  


Before he realized it, Tsukishima has already wrenched Yamaguchi out of Kuroo's grasp.  


"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi yelped surprised.  


Kuroo too looked surprised, but something about his face made him look pleased. Bokuto was trying to cover his grin next to them. Akaashi raised his eyebrows at the huffing blonde.  


"Excuse me, Kuroo-san; I have to take this guy away from you."  


"O ho? Why? I'm having such a nice conversation with Tadashi-kun here!"  


Tsukishima glared at the captain as soon as 'Tadashi-kun' left his mouth.  


"Tsukki-" Yamaguchi started, still clutched in Tsukishima's grasp.  


"You shut up."  


Yamaguchi gulped.  


"I would appreciate if you don't get in Yamaguchi's personal space. Now I have to talk to him in private. Goodbye." Tsukishima released the hold he had on Yamaguchi, only to grasp his hand, drag Yamaguchi outside and slam the door behind him.

Thrusting their fists in the air, the captains yelled:  


"Phase 3: COMPLETE!"  


They high-fived each other.  


"Akaashi, you too!" Bokuto beckoned the second-year.  


"You did a good job!" Kuroo gave Akaashi thumbs-up.  


"I didn't do it on purpose though..."  


"Doesn't matter!" the captains yelled.  


"I feel like I betrayed Tsukishima." Akaashi mumbled to himself.  


"No way, Akaashi! We helped him!" Bokuto assured his underclassman. The two soon got back to their team, still bickering about Tsukishima's case. Well, Bokuto bickering. Akaashi was just listening and agreeing to everything the ace said.  


'He really does baby Bokuto.' Kuroo thought smirking.  


Looking back at the door, Kuroo wondered about where they went. About what they were doing specifically. He giggled.  


"Coach, Kuroo is laughing like a pervert."  


"Kuroo get back to practise, dammit!"  


"I'm coming, I'm coming. Jeez, can’t a guy fantasy about two other guys?”  


He glanced at the door one last time.  


"Don't screw this up, Glasses."

END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT!✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡  
> I want a friend like Kuroo (｡•́︿•̀｡)  
> Thank you people who commented and left kudos!╰(✿´⌣`✿)╯♡  
> I read the comments and cried from happiness. ´͈ ᵕ `͈ ♡°◌̊  
> Stick with me!
> 
> hinabaelovesu.tumblr.com


End file.
